I agree with Susie Q. McCandlish's. I remember them at the top of Darlington Street, before they moved to Market Place, but they were second to none. Then there were Schofield's in Darlington Street as well. Deeelish. If you went for pies and took your own jug, they'd fill it deeelish gravy for you as well!

My nan!
She made a delicious, meat and kidney pie.
But my favourite! Her home-made apple pie. Has never been beaten. It was the 'proper kind', chunks of apple inside, not this sloppy sickly-sweet syrup.
May be it was something to do with Darlington St.
My nan lived on Darlington Street East, near the old railway yard.

I've got the original Poole's Pies meyt pie recipe if anybody wants it! The secret was, they used hot water pastry, not short-crust which they're made of now! In fact, if Dave Whelan had any brains, he'd have kept the original recipe, kept the Wallgate cafe open with a bit of refurbishment, and opened other shops in Wigan and district, instead of limiting the outlets to Asda, and Morrison's, I think, two shops I never go in.

Whenever I came home from abroad one of the first stops I made was Poole's in Wallgate opposite the station! Sitting in one of those little cubicles with the horse-stable effect and stained glass windows, oil cloth on the floor and old-fashioned ambience was very special.

Replied: 2nd Feb 2010 at 00:54

Posted by: walshy76 (inactive)

buzzcock

do you think a comment about sandwhiches on a "who made the best pies in wigan" thread is positive

....and yet , Walshy , despite several ( all negative ) comments from you on the "best pie " thread , you have offered no opinion on the subject , just the short-comings of other contributors . No doubt your favourite pies are like your opinions , mate - half-baked! Love and Peace

Posted by: jackdog (182)
Mollie,
That's great, but do you have the recipe for meat and potato as well? That was the classic Poole's pie for me, along with the 'specials'.

Sorry chuck, no I haven't. Only meyt pie recipe.

Replied: 3rd Feb 2010 at 22:36

Posted by: walshy76 (inactive)

and yet , Walshy , despite several ( all negative ) comments from you on the "best pie " thread , you have offered no opinion on the subject , just the short-comings of other contributors . No doubt your favourite pies are like your opinions , mate - half-baked! Love and Peace

there negative comments about people who dont understand the thread

i have not replied because a thread like this was on the general forum a couple of weeks ago

but if it stops you crying i will say what i said on the main forum which is village bakery up pem used to do the best pies

so there buzcock

now satisfied will you stop crying and chucking your toys out of your pram ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I also think that, Whittles pie shop (top of tunstall lane its now a galloways.) their meyt n spud were delicious, we used to go to the side door at 7 in the morn, for our daily rations of meyt n spud. the steak wus very good as well. R.I.P. whittles pies....lol..

Eeeeeeeh., I'm not one to gossip, but that Dolly Earnshaw tells me what goes on in them Anderson shelters when it's 'lights out', and you know that Ena Maybury? well she hasn't washed her nets in a three-week!

Oh not it's not. Definitely. (Not definately).
Unless your're talking about the 'township' of Wigan, an outdated concept which now has only limited relevance in some very rarified legalistic aspects of life today and which was based on the former 'parish' boundaries. That would be a bit pedantic, eh?
I'm talking about every other parameter: closeness to the town centre, postal address, common usage,etc.etc. etc.
And what 'people' generally understand and mean by 'Wigan', which is the most important factor in communicating an idea.
Everybody except you knows that Galloways is in Beech Hill, and Rollin Pin is in Newtown, and both of them are in Wigan.
And Galloways pies are rotten, while Rollin Pin's are delicious.

Tonks, there is always the Muffin Man on Park Road, now that is Wigan, and i know they make their stuff there because I can ruddy hear em banging and clattering at 5 in the morning!! So NER!!!! (and I worked there when i was a teenaged sprog!)

Jackdog, there's nothing 'pedantic' about it. It's simply a matter of separating places from local authorities.

Here's how to do it ...

Imagine there's no council (it isn't hard to do). No 'parish', 'borough', 'registration area', 'diocese' etc.. In fact, nothing only places, and each place has a start, and a finish, and a name.
Now, Pemberton, Ince, Standish and Aspull are all places, all marked individually and given names. They've not changed for over 900 years.
Wigan is the bit left in the middle of them.

In your mind, and a lot of other people's, a place changes with the council. No, it doesn't.

As it stands, the Rolling Pin Bakery is in Pemberton.
It's as much in Wigan as it is in Hindley, ie: not at all.

However, bringing 'council' back into it, Pemberton, Hindley and Wigan are all in Wigan's 'borough'.

And, all the churches in Wigan are under Liverpool. Which means that, if you were christened in a church in Wigan, you're a Scouser!

Nicola: But what if the Muffin Man was christened in Wigan though? He would be a Scouser...

Tonker / John Lennon: I am always imagining there's no council. Councils have nothing to do with it. But there were pie bakers all over Wigan 900 years ago. And Greenhalgh's shops bake their own pies, don't they? In Wigan. It depends what you mean by bake or make, I suppose. Anyway, I made a pie last week, so I'm a pie maker and I'm definitely (definately) in Wigan. So bake that.

But no, Jackdog. Not everywhere in Wigan 'borough' is under Liverpool. Some parts of it are under Blackburn, others under Manchester.
However, regardless of any other town in the same borough, 'Wigan' is under Liverpool!

Replied: 12th Jul 2010 at 17:27

Posted by: micky east (inactive)

mayburys steak and kidney was to good to be true and i did eat all their pies meat and potato only as good as most other peoples situated in a side street between whelley road and northuberland st now possibly edwards in platt bridge but tonker may not approve as it not part of wigan but they have a stall in,t market

I remember working at the Telephone Exchange in 60's early 70's and the pies we used to love were Bailey's (who I think were from Union Bridge) and the best of all Pooles's their meat pies were to die for. Later on after Poole's had closed down I remember being able to buy Poole's in Standish. I have long since moved South -what happened to Bailey's an Poole's?

I used to love Sarah Lynn's chicken & mushroom pies - and their cream cakes were to die for!

I always make my own pies, with ruff-puff pastry - my kids used to leave the crust till last cause "it's the best part" and my son would snatch my daughter's crust off her plate and shove it in his mouth. So she ate with 2 forks, one to eat with and the other to hold the crust down on her plate

Replied: 13th Jul 2010 at 21:11

Posted by: micky east (inactive)

brenda m could nt u just keep em at opposite ends of the table out of arms length

Greggs did tomato & cougette pasties for a while, didn't catch on. If you're ever in Sent Ellins (spit), try Sammy Leiveslys pies, I think Sammys gone now but his family still has the shop, behind the Theatre Royal. Steak pies (rich gravy) proper messy, and good big old fashioned sausage rolls.

Does anyone remember Hansfords in Lorne St Scholes Just off Schofield lane ? well they did the best pies their meat and potato was to die for .Sadly the old ladies retired or passed away and so did their recipes for the greatest pies i ever had.

Does anyone remember Sara Lynn pies and cakes. There was a shop in Market Place Wigan I think it was where Hampsons is now. Their pies were really tasty and their cakes were so.....................good. This Company disappeared all of a sudden, does anyone know why? I was told one of my teachers in the 1960's was engaged to the son of family who owned Sara Lynn at one point.

yes, the old bakehouse pies were to die for. We used to go up on Saturday morning with empty coffee jar for the gravy and 5 meat and potato pies, plus fruit tarts for afters - yum yum. I also remember the fantastic Pooles cafe at Wallgate - devine.

Does anyone remember Sarah Lynns meat and potato pies and cakes? They were so good, the shops were opened in the 1960's and lasted I think until the 1970's, so sad they shut as the shops were always full of customers - can't understand it.

I worked at Sara Lynns bakery in pottery rd back in the early 80s... good times... and whittles pie shop top of tunstall lane... (now Galloways)...they were luvley pies.. specially their meat and spud... happy days.

Olivers pie shop (commonly known as Burts) were in my opinion the "Best in Britain". They were only available 3 days a week if I remember correctly (Tues, Fri, Sat) but the long queues and very long wait was testimony to the quality. If you took along a jar he would give you some of the finest gravy known to man. Apologies for waxing lyrically but as you can see from my name the memories live on

I have to agree with cozzer45 ........Whittles pie shop (top of Tunstall lane - now a galloways.) tata & tata we used to call them cos there was hardly any meat in them to call them meat and potato - but they were gorgeous and I remember growing up on them as a treat - Thanks Harry (along with chippy tea on a Friday)...... nowadays it has to be Galloways chunky steak - but you need two MMMmmmmm gorgeous!

Bailies pie shop was in Mesnes St, were Smiths book shop is OR was, What about UCP they also had great pies, at the corner of what used to be British Home Stores,We had lots of good pie shops in Wigan,even tho I make my own,you can t beat a good shop pie, its like eating chips out of paper taste much better

bailies in mesnes street were very good also their cakes ,pat bailey forget her dads name now , as the galloways shops .cant say they are as good as her dads .my mum worked at baileys , george bailey was her boss .my aunty was the head confectionary . trifles you could die for ,

ecmdj,
George Bailie WAS Tricia's (Pat's) father. He was the owner of Bailies Scotch Bakery Wigan, His Brother Tommy had a similar shop in Lancaster, Dalton Square in fact. (Wherein lies another tale of Ghastly MURDER) But that's another story. Tricia, as I knew her, was George's youngest, he had two older children but both went into farming. Tricia was the only one to continue with the Bakehouse after her marriage to Galloway

I am only here today because of George and Netty Bailie, but that, as they say, is another story

Replied: 15th Sep 2013 at 15:50

Posted by: erontquay (inactive)

Weatherwax, I dont remember a bakery shop in Dalton Sq, where would it have been.
By murder do you mean Ruxton? My dentist used to be in that building. Creepy

Best pie in Wigan had to be Voses A long time back I think it was on Standishgate

"Red stains on the carpet
Red stains on your knife,
Oh Dr Buck Ruxton, you cut up your wife;
The nursemaid, she saw you, and threatened to tell-
So, Dr Buck Ruxton, you killed her as well.

Spot on! erontquay, If I remember correctly, the square consisted of three sides with a green in front. The Ruxton house was on the centre at the back of the green, and Tommy Bailies was on the left set of buildings. This was in 1935 when my Mother was working for Tommy, They all knew the Doctor and his wife Bella. In fact it was more Family that cleared the house once the case was over. Woof Jackson and a young apprentice went One winter evening, the stairs had been removed, (evidence) and a step ladder was in it's place.
They made their way up to the top floor, when suddenly the electricity failed, Woof walked into the top room and walked to the window, only to see the apprentice legging it across the grass and road. Woof said he must have slid down the ladder to get out so fast

I am working between two threads here, as erontquay has started another thread connected to all this, on Handbags which I suppose is really where it should be now.
The names you mention ,do strike a chord. My Mother came to work at Bailies soon after they opened, that would be about 1939. George kept writing to her, Saying "can ye no come down Gwen, as I canna understand these Wigan Lassies" She eventually gave in and came down to take over the bakehouse. She met my Father, who was working for Conroys at the time, (their storage was at the back of Bailies).I was born in 1950. In between, George's wife had died and he eventually married Mary who also worked in the bakehouse, as did my Aunt by marriage, Jenny Ollerton.
After my birth my mother helped out when it was busy, I spent many happy hours in the bakehouse and restaurant Kitchens, While she was Icing the wedding cakes etc. and I am sure I remember those names.

Sarah Lynns pies were really good, I remember these when I was a teenager. There were a number of shops and then suddenly they all closed. I recall a teacher of mine went out with one of the sons many years ago. Sarah Lynns cakes especially the blackcurrant tarts with cream were really delicious.

Another good pie shop was Ernie Jones in Abram. I've not seen any write up on this bakers and his confectionery was really good. Both his meat and potato and his custard tarts were the best I have ever tasted. The custard was naturally coloured filling,and good textured pastry tasted just right. Not the over compensated yellow coloured filling you can buy. My dad would always say if mum was going to get pies for tea, I'd rather have those from Ernie Jones - they're good.

Passed the shop about 12 months ago and bought a pie and custard - they still taste just as good as when I was little.

Many years ago, I used to buy Edward's blackcurrant tarts with their own cream topping (almost 50 years ago) and their large tin loaves. I remember being sent for a large tin loaf on a number of occasions and getting in bother when I returned home with the crusty top half missing as I'd eaten this on the way home - it was that good. Their vanilla slices were lovely and the puff pastry was really good.

Townofmemories I agree the bake house in Orrell, two largish ladies who looked like they had worked hard all morning baking, created lovely pies and you could take a container and they would give you some gravy....I can taste them now

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Tudor's which was on Bridge Street, Hindley, for many years.[All right, I know Hindley isn't Wigan!] They used to bring their meat and potato and meat pies up from the basement on huge wooden trays, and the smell from the bakery downstairs was something to treasure! They also made the best barm cakes I've ever tasted. I used to go there every Saturday morning and bring pies and barm cakes back for all the family. It was the one errand I didn't mind doing! In fact, my mouth is watering just from the memory!

When I 'wur a lad' (65+ years ago) there was ago small row of stone cottages near Hall Green in UpHo
land. One of those cottages was a bake house. I recall going there for meat and potato pies, always took a small jug which they filled with gravy - YUM YUM